Account-cabinet.



R. D. BROWNING, ACCOUNT CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 31, 1910.

983,531. 1111111111111 Feb. 1, 1911.

are

a r'r area ROBERT D. BROWNING, OF ORANGE, VIRGINIA.

ACCOUNT-CABINET.

of Virginia, have invented a new and useful irccount-Cabinet, of whichthe following 1s a specification.

lit is the object of this invention to provide, in a simple,merchantable and inexpen sive form, an account cabinet, the componentelements of which may readily be separated at will, or locked togetherin compact t shown in Flg. 1, 1t w1ll be seen that they form.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel means for lockingthe accountslip holders together.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel means for housingthe holders,

to provide holders of novel and improved construction, and to devisenovel means whereby the holders may be connected in' such a way thatthey may readily be separated.

VJith the above and other objects in view,.

.vention.

In the drawings,Figure 1 is a perspective showing the device mountedupon a chest of drawers, parts being broken away; Fig. 2 is a fragmentallongitudinal section; Fi g. 3 is a perspective of one of the holders; ligst is an elevation of one of the holders, parts of the lockingmechanism being omitted; and Fig. 5 is a fragmental perspective ofanother holder than that shown in Fig. 3.

In carrying out the invention there is provided, as a primary and.fundamental element, a case, comprising a lower box-like structure 1,and an upper box-like structure 2, superposed thereon. These members 1and 2 include side walls 3, the side walls 3 of the lower member 2 beingconnected by a bottom 5, and the side walls 3 of the upper member 2being connected by a top 6, the side walls 3 meeting along their edges,as denoted by the numeral 4 in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The upper member2 is open at both ends. The lower member 1, however, is providedSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 31, 1910.

Patented Feb. '7, 1911.

Serial No. 564,198.

with an end wall 7, which, as denoted by the numeral 8, upstands acrossthe end of the upper member 2, when the said member 2 is,

as shown in Fig. 1, superposed upon the member 1. The members 1 and 2are hinged together at their open ends, and adjacent their meetingedges, as shown at 9. The eX tended portion 8 of the end wall 7 of themember 1 carries a suitable catch 10, whereby the members 1 and 2 may beheld together in the position shown in Fig. 1.

When the elements 1 and 2 are disposed as unite to form a compartment,in which is disposed a series of holders, denoted generally by thenumeral 11. Each of these holders 11 is connected to the next adjoiningone, pivotally, by means of links 12. These links 12 arediagonally disposed, and, at their lower ends are pivoted, as at 14 to agiven holder, and, at their upper ends pivoted as denoted by the numeral15, to the next adjoining holder. The holder 16 which is dis posedadjacent the end wall 7 of the member 1, is, as seen in Fig. 2, securedto the said end wall, in any desired manner. The other terminal holder17 of the series is provided with a rotatably mounted head 18, carryinga finger-hold 19 for its manipulation. Pivoted eccentrically upon thehead 18 are pins 20, adapted to slide in guides 21 located upon theterminal holder 17.

Each holder is recessed upon its forward face, as seen in Fig. 3, toreceive a resilient clip 22, curved at its upper end, as denoted by thenumeral 23, and having its ends disposed in parallel relation as at 24-,and extended in opposite directions, the extremi ties 25 of the portions24c being secured in the holder. Adjacent one edge of the holder thereis a notch 26 in the top thereof, and, adjacent the other edge of theholder, there are spaced notches 27 and 28 in the top thereof. A pin 29is extended transversely.

" front of it, in the notch 28 therein; the

the numeral 34 in Figs. 3 and 1, the hook 33 is located in the notch 27.In the next adjoining holder, denoted in Fig. 5 by the numeral 35, thehook 33 is located in the notch 28. This disposition of the hooks 33 iscontinued throughout the entire series of the holders. It will be seenthat the hooks 33 of. the holder 34 will engage the pin 29 of the holder35 in the notch 27 of the holder 35, while the hook 33 of the holder 35will engage the pin 29 of the next holder in hooks'33 thus operatingalternately, in successive holders,'in the notches 27 and 28. Likewise,the hooks 32 upon the holder 34 will engage the pin 29 in the slot 26 ofthe holder 35 .upon one side of bent portion 31 of the bail 30, whilethe hook 32 of the holder 35 will engage the pin 29 upon the oppositeside of the bent portion 31 of the bail 30. By the arrangementhereinbefore described, the hooks upon each bail may operate freely toengage the pin 29 of the next adjoining holder, without interfering withthe operation of the bail which is upon said adjoining holder.

' As shown in Fig. 2, the hooks 32 and 33 are. curved slightly so as toengage the pin 29 of the next adjoining holder, whereby, when theholders are brought together, the pin 29 of one holder serves as a meansfor lifting the hooks 32 and 33 of another holder, the said hooksultimately interlocking with the pin 29 to hold the holders together.Upon each holder there is an outstanding stop 37 adapted to engage thehook 32, to uphold the said hook and the hook 33 in such positions thatthey will engage properly with the pin 29 of the next adjoining holder.For the convenient manipulation of the bails 20, each bail may beprovided, adjacent one end, with an upstanding finger 36. V

The device, disposed as shown in Fig. 1, may be placed removably uponthe top of a chest of drawers 38 or the like. When it is desired to putthe device into use, the catch 10 is manipulated, and the member 2 isswung over upon the hinges 9 in the directionof the arrow A, to occupythe dotted line position shown in Fig. 1, the members 1 and 2 thus beingalined, to form an elongated compartment. The slips upon which theaccounts are kept, are retained within the holders by means of the clips22. When it is desired to ascertain the. status of a given account, thebail 30 of that particular holder is tilted, causing the hooks 32 and 33to be lifted out of engagement with the pin 29 of the next holder. Thefinger-hold 19 is then seized, and the series of holders is drawn outinto the member 2, which, it will be remembered, is disposed in thedotted line position of Fig. 1. This drawing out of the holders, willcause the specific holder which has been freed from the remainingholders of the series to be tilted slightly, as shown in Fig. 2, anddisposed in a position in which the account slips contained in the saidholder may be readily examined.

In order to lock the holder in place, and in order to prevent theterminal holder 17 from tilting when it is freed from the other holdersof the series, the finger-hold 19 may be seized, and the head 18rotated, the pins 20 being thus forced outwardly in opposite directions.The pins 20 are preferably pointed, and are adapted to form seats forthemselves within the side Walls of the case.

WVhen it is desired to dispose the several holders in the compact formshown in Fig. l, the pins 20 may be retracted from their hold upon thecase 1, and the holders simply pushed together.

Referring to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the hook 32 of the free holderis upheld by means of the stop 37 in such a position that when the freeholder is slid into contact with the next adjoning one, the rounded endof both of the hooks 32 and 33 will be positioned to bear against thepin 29 of the next adjoining holder, whereby the hooks 32 and 33 will belifted, the said hooks ultimately engaging the pin 29 and retaining theholder to its fellow. Thus, by simply shoving the holders into contactwith each other, any holders which may be unlocked, will be automatically locked to those holders which are next to them.

The holders are all locked together by means of the hooks 32 and 33, andby manipulating the bails 30 of those holders which it is desired toexamine, certain of the holders may be set free, the remaining holders,which the operator has no desire to examine, remaining locked together.

At the close of the days business, the device may readily be lifted fromthe set of drawers 38 upon which it is mounted, and stowed away in asafe or other receptacle.

For convenience in illustration, but one set of holders is shown; but itis of course to be understood that the structure shown in Fig. 1 may beduplicated any number of times, so that there are several rows ofholders located side by side, instead of one only; the specificdelineation of such an obvious expedientbeing considered unnecessary.

To the upper ends of the holders, index plates 100 may be secured, asseen in Fig. 5, each plate preferably being inscribed with the name ofone of the debtors of the store. The clips 22 serve to retain upon theproper holders, the specific account slips 200 of each debtor.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. A device ofthe class described including a series of pivotally connected holdersadapted to be spaced from one another; and

a locking device upon each holder operating gravitationally to engage anadjacent holder when the holders are brought together.

2. A device of the class described including a series of pivotallyconnected holders adapted to be spaced from one another; and a gravitylocking device upon each holder adapted to be lifted by contact with thenext holder to engage said holder when the holders are brought together.

A device of the class described including a series of pivotallyconnected holders adapted to be spaced from one another; a gravitylocking device upon each holder adapted to be lifted by contact with thenext holder to engage said holder when the holders are brought together;and a stop upon each holder to maintain the locking device in such aposition that it may be liftable by the next holder.

at. A device of the class described including a series of pivotallyconnected holders adapted to be spaced from one another; a gravitylocking device upon each holder; and an element upon each holderconstituting at once a pivotal mounting for the locking device of saidholder, and a member with which the locking device of the next holdermay engage to retain the holders together.

5. A device of the class described comprising a series of holders havingslots at their upper ends, the holders being pivotally connected forseparation from one another; pins inserted in the holders and extendedacross the slots; and upstanding bails pivoted upon the pins and havinghooks to interlock with the pin of the next holder within the slots ofthe same.

6. A device of the class described comprising a series of holders havingslots at their upper ends, the holders being pivotally connected forseparation from one another; pins inserted in the holders and extendedacross the slots; and upstanding bails pivoted upon the pins, the bailshaving hooks liftable by contact with the pin of the next holder tointerlock with said pin; and a stop upon each holder to maintain thehooks in position for contact with the pin of the next holder.

7. A device of the class described comprising superposed, box-likestructures open at one end and hinged together at their open ends alongtheir meeting edges, the structures defining a compartment whensuperposed; and a series of pivotally connected holders located in thecompartment, one end of which series is secured to the lower of saidstructures, the upper of which structures is adapted to be swung intoalinement with the lower, to elongate the compartment,

the free end of the series of holders being movable into the elongatedcompartment to space the holders apart.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT D. BROWNING.

Vitnesses JAMES MADISON, C. W. VVooLroLK.

